Tape slitting machine



Nov. 16, 1948. L. E. PAMPHILON TAPE s'LI'r'rme uAcums 3 SheetsFSheet 1 F5 .led Au 26, 1946 6:11. Isl! I/VVEN r02. LEO/b 5mm PAMP/IIZON 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 L. E. PAMPHILON TAPE SLITTING MACHINE .L-..-.-': 'r- ------1 -m-' 0% mm an Nov. 1948.

Filed Aug. 26, 1946 ATTORNEY Nov. 16, 1948.

L. E. PAMPHFLON TAPE SLITTING MACHINE a Sheets-Sheet :5

Filed Aug. 26. 1946 TAPE sums-mom Leon Edward .Pamphllon, Yeadon, Pa., assignor to Airdesign, Incorporated; Upper Darby, Pa., a corporation of Pennsyl Application August 26, .1946, Serial No.692,975

1 My invention relates to devices for slitting flat 8 Claims. (01. 164-39) material and more particularly .to machines for I cutting a roll oftape into-a pluralityof rolls of smaller width.

I have found that in the manufacture of small electrical resistors, transformers, and condensers the insulating material which is ordinarily a gummed tape must be of an extremely accurate width, and in addition it must be possible to vary the width of the insulating material in accord-. ance withthe particular size or the device in which it may be incorporated.

An object of my invention, therefore, is to provide an apparatus for quickly and accurately cutting a roll of adhesive tape into any desired number of narrower rolls;

A further object f my invention is to provide apparatus in accordance with the above/object which is capable of extremely accurate adjustment with respect to the width of the rolls to be formed.

A further object of my invention is to provide an automatic take-up device in a tape slittingmachine whereby slipping of the roll on the takeup mandrel is eliminated. v

A further object is the provision Of an auto'-. matically fed cutting bar having a friction con-' trolled feed. l

ings, the various elements of my cutter with the exception of electric motor 13 are shown mounted in a generally rectangular housing H having sides I! and I3 and ends l4 and i5. Partition i3 located lengthwise of housing ii extends substantially halfway, down from the top of ends 14 and i5 and is securedthereto. Shaft I I is supported on side i3 and partition It by means of hearings i8 and 43. Shaft i'l carries gear 20 located be;

tween side 12 and partition i5 and pulley 21 shown exteriorly of side- 20. Pulley ii is driven by electric motor ill through belt 22 and pulley 23 in the usual manner. Electric motor is controlled by toggle switch 24 and lines 25 aifd 26, which A further object is to provide a cutting bar con- 4 taining a plurality of cutting knives adapted for quick adjustment.

Further objects will be apparent from the speciflcation and drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of my tape slitting machine;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary section taken along lines 3--3 of Fig,v 1;

the construction Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section taken along lines 4--4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail of a knife holder as seen from line 55 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary detail of the knife holders as seen from 6-6 of Fig. 1.

Like reference characters denote like parts in the several figures of the drawings.

While certain novel features of the invention are disclosed herein with considerable detail with respect to certain particular forms of the invention, it is not desired to be limited to such details since many changes and modifications may well be made without departure from the spirit of the invention in its broadest aspect.

Referring now more particularly to the draware connected to an outside some of current through plug 21'.

Gear 20 drives mating gear 28 on sh a ft 23 which extends through partition l6 as shown'inFig. 3

and supports shank 32 which is fabricated of square stockhaving. the comersof the square rounded as shown in Fig. 2. Collar'33 is rotatably mounted on shank 32 upon which'it is held in place by plate 34 and screws 35. Enclosing. collar 33, are four segments 36 having pinsill extending through collar 33 to contact the square sides of shank 32. Segments 36 are retained radially by rubber sleeve 38 and the entire end of the assembly is enclosed by cap 39 keyed to shaft 29. Plate '40 attached to bearing 3i acts as a stop for cylinders to be inserted over rubber sleeve 38 in a manner to be described hereinafter. Collar 7 4! on shaft 29 is adjusted to prevent undesirable end play of the shaft 29.

The feed mandrel assembly is supported on shaft 42 journaled in bearings 43 and 44 on side l2 and partition I6 respectively. Shaft 42 likewise has a collar 45 for elimination of excessive end play, and carries a flange 46 adjustably mounted on the shaft by means of collars 41. Flange 46 has a shoulder 48 adapted to receive a roll of tape 49. Near the outer end of shaft 42 a second flange or collar 50 is rotatably and slidably mounted and is provided with a. forwardly extending axial sleeve 50a. The outside diameter of flange 50 is substantially the same as the diameter of shoulder 48 for the purpose of rotatably supporting roll 49. A knob 5| is rotatably mounted on sleeve 50a of flange 50 and axially retained thereon by means of a collar 5la. Knob 5| at its inner extremity is provided with a fourlobe cam-SID, the lobes of which cooperate with four radially extending pawls 52, 52 which are spring-loaded by means of helical springs 52a (Fig. 2) and retained axially on flange 50 by means of plate 50b. Rotation of knob 5| with respect to sleeve 50:: serves to extend or contract pawis 52. When the feed roll 49 is installed, pawis 52 are retracted by means of knob 5|, whereupon the roll 49 is slipped over flange 50 and positioned on shoulder 48. Both the flange 50 and the knob 5| are thenmoved outwardly until pawis 52 clear the outer endof the roll hub 55. In this position, knob 5| may be turned to expand'the pawis, thereby retaining the'" flange assembly 50 eration.

Cutting head 60 is supported on bar BI and rollers 52 and is adapted to move from right to left or vice-verse, as seen in Fig. 1. Manual movement of cutting head is accomplished by means of knob 63 which turns pinion 54 toengage the teeth of rack 65 on the bottom of bar 6|, Fig. 2. Supports 68 provide rigid alignment for guides 81 between which bar 6| moves. I

Cutting head 60 is comprised of two side plates 48 connected by bars 58 and |l (Fig. 6) which act as reinforcing membersv for side plates 68 and guides for knife holders I I. Also mounted on side plates 58, 68 are lugs 12, 12 carrying spacing bar I3.

Knife holders 1| (Figs. 5 and 6) are constructed in halves which are held together by screws 14. The knife holders II are adapted to slide crosswise on bars 59v and i and may be secured in any desired position by means of set screw 15. V Each knife holder carries a knife 16 having its sharpened edge 11 disposed at a slight downward angle as shown in Fig. 5. Knives ii are secured in knife holders H by means of set screw 18.

Rollers 19 are conveniently located between the feed and take-up mandrels and serve a partifcular purpose which will be described hereina ter.

In order to prevent slippage in the take-up roll particularly during thefirst few revolutions, the turning force applied through square shank 32 tends to push pins 31 radially outward thus tightly squeezing rubber sleeve 38 against the inside diameter of cardboard cylinder 80. It will thus be apparent that the greater the drag of knife 16 and spacer bar 13 on the take-up roll, the greater will be the pressure with which the take-up rolls are secured to the take-up mandrel.

Operation The wide roll of uncut tape is inserted over flange 50, pawis 52 having been previously retracted by means of knob and the core or hub of the roll is slipped over collar 48 on flange 46. Pawls 52 are then extended by turning knob 5| to securely position the roll 49 on the flanges. A cardboard cylinder 80 is then slipped over rubber sleeve 38. Such cardboard cylinders are well known in the 'art and are used as coresfor many types of tape. The end of the tape 8| is fed over rollers 19 and attached to cylinder 80, cutting head 60 having previously been moved to the left in Fig. 2 by turning knob 63. After one or two turns of tape have been wound on the cylinder 80, cutting head 60 is then moved to the right until knives 16 lightly engage the tape or cylinder 80. Motor Iii is then turned on by means of switch 24 and tape 8| as well as cylinder III are slit as the take-up mandrel rotates. As the tape builds up on core 80, contact with spacing bar 13 moves the cutting head to the left in accordance with the rate of buildup. It will be apparent that the position of'the tip of knife 16 with respect to spacing bar 13 should be such that'the knife will cut substantially through cardboard core 80 when the operation commences. It has been found that either or both the angle 11 of knife 16 and the resistance of rack 55 and pinion 64 combine to feed the knife 16 into the take-up roll and it is against this feeding pressure that the layers of tape themselves act on spacer bar 13 to maintain correct positioning of knife 16 as the tape is wound on the cylinder 8|. It is only necessary for the operator to urge the knife 16 lightly into the first layer of tape by means of knob 63 after which the slitting operation is entirely automatic. When all the tape has been wound on core 80, motor l0 may be stopped either manually or automatically and the narrow rolls removed from rubber sleeve 38.

Rollers 19 in addition to providing convenient means for transferring tape from the feed roller to the take-up cylinder also serve as tensionlng means when a gummed tape is used since the tape tends to adhere to the rollers. The additional force required to pull the gummed tape from rollers I! cooperates with the automatic take-up mandrel to prevent slippage of core 80 on sleeve 38 as described above.

Although the action of rollers 19 has been described with a gummed tape, this term has been used in reference to a tape having a sticky adhesive which. requires no'wetting. My slitting machine will operate to slit rolls of tape made of a wider variety of materials regardless of whether an adhesive is applied or not. Where there is no adhesive, the tensionlng feature of rollers 19 described above will not, of course, be present.

It will be apparent, therefore, that I have provided a small light-weight tape slitter which is portable,-inexpensive to manufacture, and which provides a wide range of adjustment with extreme accuracy and freedom from complicated feeding devices for the cutter bar. My machine can be used by an inexperienced operator with an absolute minimum of spoilage and if desired,

an automatic stop may be incorporated to turn off the current to motor l0 should the tape break or when it has run off of the feed mandrel.

Having thus described my invention, I claim: 1. A tape slitting machine having a pair of side members, a pair of end members connecting the side members and forming a rectangular housing, a partition extending lengthwise in the housing, a jack shaft mounted on the partition and one side of the housing, a take-up shaft mounted on the partition and one side of the housing, bearings for the jack shaft and takeup shaft, gears for driving the take-up shaft from the jack shaft, means including an electric motor for driving the'jack shaft, a shank on the takeup shaft having a substantially square cross section, a collar surrounding said shank, a plurality of convex segments surrounding the collar and having ends extending through the collar to abut the sides of the shank, a resilient sleeve encircling the segments and compressing them radially inwards; a feed shaft journaled in the partition and a side member, a flange mounted on the feed shaft, a second flange mounted on the feed shaft, said second flange carrying a plurality of radially extendible pawls, means for extending and retracting said pawls'; a cutting hcad slidably movable with respect to the take-up mandrel, guide means supported between the partition and a side member for the cuttin head, means including a rack and pinion for moving the cutting head in the guide members, a spacer bar on the cutting head adapted to abut a layer of tape being wound on the takeup mandrel, a plurality of knife holders on the cutting head, means for locking the knife holders in any desired position on the cutting head, a knife blade in the knife holders having its cutting edge extending downwardly from the knife holder, and a pair of rollers positioned between the partition and a side member for guiding and tensioning the tape as it" is fed from the feed mandrel onto the take-up mandrel.

,2. The combination in a portable tape slitting machine of a take-up mandrel, a feed mandrel. a cutting head for engaging material being wound on the take-up mandrel, and a spacer bar on the cutting head for regulating the relative position of the cutting head with respect to the take-up mandrel.

3. The combination in a slitting machine of a take-up mandrel, a feed mandrel, a cutter slidably movable with respect to the feed mandrel, guides for the cutter, and means for manually advancing the cutter in the guides to mgin the slitting operation.

4. The combination in a slitting machine of a take-up mandrel, a feed mandrel, a cutting head comprising a plurality of blades pointing downwardly away from the cutting head, and means for maintaining a. spaced relationship between the glaclies and material wound on the take-up man- 52 The combination in a slitting machine of a take-upmandrel, a feed mandrel, a cutting head comprising a plurality of blades pointing down- 6 wardly away from the cutting head, means for maintaining a spaced relationship between the blades and material wound on the take-up mandrel, and means on the take-up mandrel for gripping a take-up roll.

6. A take-up mandrel assembly for tape slitters and the like comprising a take-up shaft, a square shank on the take-up shaft, a collar enclosing the square shank, a plurality of convex segments en circling the collar, pins on the segments extending through the collar to abut the square shank, and a resilient sleeve for retaining the segments.

7. A cutting head for tape slitting machines and the like comprising a pair of side members, a backing member to which the side members are attached, a pair of reinforcing bars between the side members, a plurality of knife holders slldable on the bars, set screws in the knife holders for locking the knife holders on the bars in any desired position, knives secured in said knile holders, and means including a spacer bar secured to the side members for moving the cutting head assembly in proportion to the amount of material being cut by the knives.

8. The combination in a portable tape slitting machine of a take-up mandrel, a feed mandrel, a cutting head for engaging material wound on the take-up mandrel, a spacer bar on the cutting head for regulating the relative position of the cutting head with respect to the take-up mandrel. and an electric motor for operating the take-up mandrel.

n EDWARD. PAMPHILON.

REFERENCES crrap The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNI'IED s'ra'ras PATENTS 

